Conflict
- when one party perceives that another party has negatively affected, or about to negatively affect, something that the first party cares about
Transitions in Conflict Thought
1) Traditional View of Conflict
- conflict is harmful and must be avoided
2) Interactionist View of Conflict
- conflict is not only a positive force but also an absolute necessity for a group to perform effectively
a. Functional Conflict
- conflict that supports the goals of the group to improve its performance
b. Dysfunctional Conflict
- conflict that hinders group performance
c. Task Conflict
- conflict over content and goals of the work
d. Relationship Conflict
- conflict based on interpersonal relationship
e. Process Conflict
- conflict over how work gets done
3) Resolution Focused View of Conflict
- conflict is inevitable in most organizations
- focuses on productive conflict resolution
a. Research Pendulum
- swung from eliminating conflict
- encourage limited levels of conflicts
- finding constructive methods for resolving conflicts so their disruptive influence can be minimized
The Conflict Process
1) Stage 1: Potential Opposition and Incompatibility
a. Communication
- opposing forces that arise from misunderstanding and "noise" in the communication channels
- barriers are: differing word connotations, jargon, insufficient exchange of information, and noise
- conflict increases when too little or too much communication takes place
b. Structure
- may involve size, degree of specialization in tasks, jurisdictional clarity, member-goal compatibility, leadership styles, reward systems, degree of dependence between groups
c. Personal Variables
- may include personality, emotions, and values.
- high in disagreeableness, neuroticim, and self-monitoring are prone to tangle with other people, reacts poorly in conflict
2) Stage 2: Cognition and Personalization
- if stage 1 negatively affects the party, potential incompatibility becomes actualized in the second stage
a. Perceived Conflict
- awareness of the existence of conditions that create opportunities for conflict to arise
b. Felt Conflict
- emotional involvement in a conflict that creates anxiety, tenseness, frustration, or hostility
3) Stage 3: Intentions
- intention intervenes between people's perception and emotions and their overt behavior
- decisions to act in a given way
a. Cooperativeness - attempts to satisfy other's concern
b. Assertiveness - attempts to satisfy his/her concerns
5 Conflict-Handling Intentions
a. Competing
- seeks to satisfy his/her own interests regardless of the impact on others
- places a bet that only one can win
b. Collaborating
- when parties in conflict each desire to fully satisfy the concerns of all parties
- solves the problem by clarifying differences rather than accommodating various points of view
- win-win solutions
c. Avoiding
- withdraw conflict or suppress it
- ignoring the conflict and avoiding others with whom you disagre
d. Accommodating
- places the opponent's interests above his/her own
- sacrificing to maintain the relationship
e. Compromising
- no clear winner or loser
- provide solution that provides incomplete satisfaction of both parties' concerns
- each member intends to give up something
4) Stage 4: Behavior
- thinking of conflict resolution
- this is where conflicts become visible
- includes statements, actions, and reactions made by conflicting parties
- overt attempts to implement their own intentions
- overt behaviors sometimes deviate from these original intentions
Conflict Management Techniques
a) Conflict-Resolution Techniques
a1. Problem Solving
- face to face meeting of the conflicting parties to identify problem and resolve through open discussion
a2. Superordinate Goals
- create shared goal that cannot be attained without the cooperation of each conflicting parties
a3. Expansion of Resources
- when a conflict is caused by the scarcity of a resource (money, promotion, office space, etc).
a4. Avoidance
- withdrawal from or suppression of the conflict
a5. Smoothing
- playing down differences, emphasizing common interests between conflicting parties
a6. Compromise
- each party gives up something of value
a7. Authoritative Command
- management uses authority to resolve the conflict
a8. Altering the Human Variable
- using behavior change techniques, alter behavior that causes conflict
a9. Altering the Structural Variables
- changing the org patterns through job redesign, transfers, creation of coordinating positions, etc
b) Conflict-Simulation Tehnique
b1. Communication
- using threatening messages to increase conflict level
b2. Bringing in outsiders
- adding employees whose values differ from present members
b3. Restructuring the Organization
- realigning work groups, alter rules, increase interdependence
b4. Appointing a Devil's Advocate
- designing a critic to argue against majority
5) Stage 5: Outcomes
- action-reaction interplay results in consequeces
- outcomes may be functional it there is an improvement
- can be dysfunctional if it hinders performance.
